Target shooting is a widespread activity, both for purposes of recreation and in connection with the training of law enforcement officers, military personnel and individuals interested in personal self-defense. Target ranges provide a safe and controlled environment for year-around shooting. Furthermore, target ranges minimize the impact of noise and the hazards of stray projectiles on the surrounding environment; hence, they are of increasing popularity in urban areas.
Targets generally used at shooting ranges are of a solid, bullet penetrable material used typically to support a removable paper target thereon with appropriate indicia such as the well known circular "bulls-eye" target. Other target structures often used for military or police training applications may take specific shapes or silhouettes and may also have indicia or aiming points thereon. Many such target structures are incorporated into mechanical systems which cause them to "pop-up" for the shooter to shoot at. The mechanical system may also cause the targets to fall down when the appropriate aiming point is hit.
In any target range, and in an indoor range in particular, it is necessary to provide a target structure which will allow projectiles to penetrate the target and pass into a bullet trapping structure without damage or hazard from ricochets or bullet fragments. By the same token, it is desirable to have a target structure which can withstand a large number of bullet penetrations while substantially maintaining the target integrity, thus allowing the target to be used on a continued and repeated basis for a substantially longer period of time without the need for replacement.
Wood, cardboard, fiberboard and other rigid penetrable structures have long been employed in shooting ranges to serve as targets. Each penetration through such targets results in the removal of a portion of the target material and creates a corresponding hole in the target, hence these target structures quickly lose their integrity and consequently their ability to function as a target. Polyethylene structures have also been used as targets and provide improved performance over wood and other materials. However, each penetration still removes material from the structure, resulting in the need for target replacement after repeated penetrations.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing that there is a need for an improved target structure which will allow repeated bullet penetrations without sustaining substantial damage and loss of integrity. The present invention addresses this need by providing a self healing target structure which effectively allows penetration by a variety of calibers and loads, without any significant loss of the target material and without significant damage to the structure. These and other advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art from the drawings, discussion and description which follow.